"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Learning lines in the rain
Special effects by loonatik and drinks
The graveyard scene
The golden years
She's in parties
It's in the can
She's in parties
It's in the can
Freeze frame screen kiss
Hot heads under silent wigs
Fall guys tumble on the cutting room floor
Look-a-likes fall on the cutting room door
She's in parties
It's in the can
She's in parties
It's in the can
Learning lines in the rain
Special effects by loonatik and drinks
Freeze frame, screen kiss, hot heads, lights and power
It's patently obvious
She's in parties
It's in the can
She's in parties
It's in the can
Hot lines under a rain of drum
Cigarette props in action
Dialogue dub, now heres the rub
She's acting her reaction
She's in parties
It's in the can
Special effects by loonatik and drinks
The graveyard scene
The golden years
She's in parties
It's in the can
She's in parties
It's in the can
Freeze frame screen kiss
Hot heads under silent wigs
Fall guys tumble on the cutting room floor
Look-a-likes fall on the cutting room door
She's in parties
It's in the can
She's in parties
It's in the can
Learning lines in the rain
Special effects by loonatik and drinks
Freeze frame, screen kiss, hot heads, lights and power
It's patently obvious
She's in parties
It's in the can
She's in parties
It's in the can
Hot lines under a rain of drum
Cigarette props in action
Dialogue dub, now heres the rub
She's acting her reaction
She's in parties
It's in the can
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
"In the can" is slang for something being finished - like a scene in a movie that has been deemed successful by a director and therefore is "in the can"....complete. According to an interview w/Peter Murphy, the song is about Marliyn Monroe (who happened to mix pills and alcohol on a regular basis) - I believe this song could refer to her death as being her last performance, and that it is actually her life that is "in the can".
Holy shit this song rules.
"She's 'in parties'" like other people say "she's in movies" in an idiomatic kind of way
she's staging her life, and possibly caught up in the cinema and the detached acting gig of it all.
I think the most important point in unveiling the meaning of this song is the line: "She's acting her reaction." I can't begin to wonder what it could stand for. Personally I think it could go along very well with the political interpretation of the song.
@OnikJohn3 maybe she's such an actress that you don't know where the real person ends and the roles begin. You have no idea if she's being honest, or is a good liar, due to her profession.
The song is full with music industry jargon forms:
Learning lines in the rain = "learning lines" = studying the script? The graveyard scene = the classic graveyard scene under the rain with umbrellas? It's in the can = this means "the movie is ready to be delivered, it's finished" Freeze frame = the still frame technique in movies Hot heads = I think this means "the bad ones" in movies, the bad character? Fall guys = jargon for stereotypa characters in movies cutting room = the room where film was cut, where physical fragments of film used to fall in the cutting phase Cigarette props = fake cigarettes for scenic use Dialogue dub = dubbing now heres the rub = here's the problem She's acting her reaction = She's acting, she is reacting in the movie, she is answering to the other actor's line
@nicolarovetta "Fall Guys" is jargon for Stuntmen
I always felt like it was about some dark underground gathering where things happen that are not supposed to be known in public. The 'parties' could refer to that, as do the 'special effects' that may refer to the events happening there. I could be totally wrong though. Brilliant song, and a great video. The whole look of the boys, the clothing, the haircuts, it's like one of those old horror films based on old gothic novels. The essence of gothic music was captured in this song and its video.
I always thought this song was about a party or the scene.
as far as i can remember at the time it was released, it was said in interview that this song is about marilyn monroe
livid_imp, I think it all makes sense when meaning Marilyn Monroe - lunatic may refer to the stuff that makes one like a lunatic - peels she took, drinks - it's obvious, She mixed the stuff - special effects were guarantied for sure!
She's in parties, its in the can She's in parties, its in the can
====
If its about Marilyn Monroe, then maybe "she`s in parties" refer to the film as a technical mean of representation, cause on a celluloid film everything is cut in frames (or parts) and with "in the can" maybe they meant this aluminium can where they used to keep films in those days. And here we can see the existential undertone of Bauhaus - all that is left of once adored sex symbol is just her projection on decaying celluloid. Everything is towards its death, so to say.
best song ever.